Means for dispensing heated aerosols



Aug. 11, 1964 v R11 1, ABPLANALP MEANS FOR DISPENSING HEATED AEROSOLS I Filed Nov. 17, 1961 I NVENTOR.

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United States Patent Office 3,144,174 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 3,144,174 MEANS FOR DHSPENSING HEATED AEROSOLS Robert Henry Abplanalp, Hewitt Ave., Bronxville, N.Y. Filed Nov. 17, 1961, Ser. No. 152,997 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-146) This invention is directed to means whereby aerosols dispensed in substantially conventional manner from a conventional container may be dispensed in a heated condition. The aerosols thus dispensed may be of various kinds without departing from this invention but the invention is particularly desirable for use in the dispensing of warm or hot shaving cream from a can of aerosol foam shave mixture.

Shaving creams so dispensed are more pleasant to use and more effectually soften the beard when applied to the face of the user. Furthermore, they leave the skin softer and more free from abrasion or razor blade Scrape when the shave is completed.

Conventional aerosol dispensers embody a manually controlled valve having a tubular valve stem which, when actuated, serves to unseat the valve and dispense the contents of the container through the stem. In some instances the material is dispensed directly from the outer end of the valve stem while, in other cases, a cap with a spout is associated with the valve stem and through this cap or spout the shaving cream issues in the form of foam. The present invention may be associated with either type of dispenser.

In either case the present invention may be embodied in a dispenser of the character stated by associating With the tubular valve stem an electric heating element which, when electrically energized, serves to heat the cream after it passes the manually controlled. valve, but before it is dispensed in the form of foam. Appropriate electrical current feed connections are provided in which may be included a current controlling rheostat by means of which the degree of heating of the cream may be controlled.

In its preferred practical form, the present invention is preferably enclosed within a dispensing cap having a spout, wherein a metallic tubular connector is interposed between the outer end of the valve stem and the inlet end of the spout with the electric heating element embracing this metallic element and serving to heat the same so that the cream passing therethrough is raised to the desired temperature.

The cap with heating element therein may be permanently afiixed to each individual container for dispensing heated foam. However, I prefer to make such cap detachable from the container when the contents of the latter are exhausted so that said cap may then be removed from the empty container and used in the manner of an accessory, to be applied to successive conventional fully charged dispensing containers. This may be accomplished by simply removing the cap from the container carrying with said cap the heating device of this invention which is thus disconnected from the empty container with Withdrawal of a socket from the valve stem of such container.

Electrical connections lead through the side of the cap and are preferably provided with a current controlling rheostat, as stated, and with a pronged plug for engagement with the usual electrical system of the home or other enclosure wherein the shaving operation is to take place. The current carrying parts are provided with adequate electrical insulation to thoroughly protect the user against electrical shock.

Features of the invention, other than those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter detailed description and appended claim, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

The drawing shows a portion of a dispensing container, hereinafter referred to as the can, with the present invention associated therewith, all parts whereof are shown in central section.

For the purpose of illustration, I have shown the present invention as associated with a dispensing can, such as illustrated in my patent Reissue No. 24,555 of October 28, 1958, which is herein incorporated by reference. That dispenser comprises a can body C, the filling opening of which is provided with a peripheral curl 1, said filling opening being closed by a cup 2. On the cup is mounted the usual manually operable valve 3 having a tubular valve stem 4. The margin of the cup is curled, as shown at 5, to embrace the curl 1 of the can body, all of said parts being permanently as sembled. These parts are all conventional and form no part of the present invention, except as used in conjunction with the structure next to be described.

Supported on the curled margin of the cup 2 is a cap 6. This cap is of the same general character as shown in my said reissue patent. It has a lateral Wall 7 of substantially cylindrical form. It is generally of injec tion molded plastic and is provided at its bottom with an attaching channel adapted to be detachably snapped over the curled margin of the cup 2 to removably mount the cap thereon. The wall 7 is substantially closed at its top by valve operating tab 8 provided on its under side with a hub having therein a socket 9, from the interior of which an expansion passage 10 leads to a discharge spout ll.

The cap 6 is somewhat deeper than as shown in my said reissue patent in order that the present invention may be housed therein, intermediate the socket 9 and the valve stem 4. The added parts comprise the following elements, namely, a tubular metallic sleeve or conduit 12 provided at its lower end with an enlarged base 13 having therein a socket 14 adapted to receive the upper portion of the valve stem with a close fit. Above the enlarged base 14 is an electric heating element 15 having a close fit with the cylindrical portion of said sleeve and thoroughly insulated from all portions thereof by dielectric heat conductive material capable of transmitting heat from the heating element 15 to the sleeve 12. A heating element of the coil type is shown in the drawing but I may use an induction type or any other conventional form.

The upper end of the sleeve 12 is received within a socket 16 of a fitting 17, the upper end of which is reduced to closely seat within the socket 9 of the valve operating tab.

The passage through the sleeve 12 is preferably of capillary size to preclude foaming of the effluent from the can and thus maintain it in liquid form as it flows therethrough and to also minimize the cross-sectional flow and thus ensure eificient heat exchange between the heater and such liquid.

The fitting 17 has an axial passage 18 which is preferably even smaller than the capillary passage through the sleeve 12 so as to further preclude the expansion and consequent conversion of the liquid into foam until such liquid enters the larger passage 10 which serves as an expansion chamber. The passage of the fixture also functions as a constriction beyond the heating zone whereby there is sufiicient delay of the passage of the cream through this zone as to permit it to efliciently absorb the heat desired in the cream dispensed through the spout.

In the construction shown in the drawing, wires 19 and 20' connect the heating element 15 with a properly insulated flexible cable 21 leading from a plug 22, adapted to be plugged into a conventional wall socket. Appropriate resistances may be built into the cable 21 to control the heat generated by the heating element, although, in practice I prefer to include within this cable any convenient form of adjustable r'heostat 23 whereby the operator may control the temperature of the foam which he is to apply to his face. Any appropriate means, such as a split ring 24, may be associated with the cable 21 within the walls 7 of the cap, so that the cable will not inadvertently be disengaged from the cap.

The particular electrical connections shown in the drawing are for illustration only for in practice any appropriate electrical connections may be employed whereby the heating element may be plugged into a source of electrical current preferably with provision for controlling the energization of the heating element.

With the structure hereinbefore described the user may conveniently plug in the cable to an electrical out let when he is ready to shave, whereupon the heating element 15 will be energized to heat the sleeve 12. If the user then depresses the valve operating tab 8, the valve stem 4 will be depressed to open the valve. Cream from the can body C will then be fed through the passage of the sleeve 12 and through passage 18 in suc cession to the passage 10, to be expanded in the passage 10 and discharged through the spout 11in the form of a foam. During such passage, the cream will be heated as the user may desire so that the foamissuing from the spout 11 may be either warm or hot as he may prefer.

When applied to the face, preliminary to shaving, this warm foam will not tend to contract the 'skin of the user, but will rather tend to openu'p the pores about the hairs to be shaved off. The skin will thus be made more flexible and the individual hairs softened so as to be more readily and cleanly removed by the razor blade in a more comfortable and efii'cient manner than is the case when a cold lather of foam is applied.

When shaving is accomplished through the use of warm or hot foam, as provided by this invention, the skin is left soft, smooth and comfortable. The blade will not scrape a hard surface of the skin and cause that irritation which is so common when cold shaving aids are employed.

In the accompanying drawing and the foregoing description, the present invention is shown and described with particular reference to one well known form of dispensing container and cap. I wish it understood, however, that the present irivention is not limited to this particular environment. It may be associated with aerosol dispensers of other forms without departing from this invention.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A heating device for attachment to an aerosol container with a discharge valve having at its top an upwardly extending tubular valve stem, said heating device comprising a cap having an upstanding peripheral wall provided at its lower edge with means for rigidly attaching said cap to the container and at its top with a pivoted valve operating. tab having'a discharge passage to the atmosphere and provided on its under side with a socket communicating with said passage, a tubular heat conductive sleeve with a socket at its lower end to receive the tubular valve stem of the container and having a connection at its upper end extending into the socket of the valve operating tab, said connection having a duct connecting the interior of the sleeve with the discharge passage of the valve operating member, said duct being of lesser cross sectional area than the cross sectional areas of both the sleeve and discharge passages to preclude expansion of liquid delivered from the container when the valve of the latter is opened until such material enters the discharge passage of the valve operatmg tab, and an electrical heating element embracing said sleeve intermediate the socket of the sleeve and said connection, with means for supplying electrical energy to said heating element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,288,248 Long a June 30, 1942 2,873,351 Lannert -u Feb. 10, 1959 2,914,221 Rosenthal 4 Nov. 24, 1959 3,069,528 Gardner Dec. 18, 1962 3,095,122 Lewiecki et al June 25, 1963 3,098,925 Fouts et al. July 23, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 175,972 Austria 4 Sept. 10, 1953 683,218 France Feb. 25, 1930 

